Would you buy a lens with dust inside?

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BlackCloud

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I've seen a few adverts for s/h lenses saying there is dust inside but no effect on image quality. It seems though to have an effect on sale as they often don't sell quick.

If you are buying a lens ten years old a few specs of dust could be expected and is unlikely to effect performance right?

Would it put you off a newer lens, maybe only one or two years old? Wouldn't it mean seals are blown?

Any thoughts?
 
Can't keep the dust out of my Canon 17-55mm, but never shows up on pictures
 
Hi I just sold my 30 year old Nikon lens on the bay and declared that it had dust particles. Still got a good price, Seems that folk who understand know that a few particles will make no difference at all. An old lens which has it's inner elements "coated" in dust will of course be inferior. There is a lot of difference between a few particles and "dusty"
 
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There is dust in every lens. Some is more visible to the naked eye than others. Makes zero difference to image quality. Lenses (zooms anyway) have to let air in and out or else suction would keep you from moving the zoom ring so dust particles are inevitable.

People who sell lenses and point out the dust proably do so due to the fact it is very visible in their lens. All my lenses have a dust particle or two except for my new 70-200 VRII which I expect to have dust in it after this weekend. ;-)

Now, dust on the sensor is a different story. Definitely can affect pictures which is why Capture NX2 has the ability to make a dust removal reference photo.
 
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It depends on the lens and the price ! Do you have a specific example in mind ?
 
I don't think I've even looked to check for dust in my lenses. why would i be concerned if i'm happy with the pictures they take?
 
pretty much all second hand lenses will have dust, the problem is whether it is acceptable levels of dust or not, and thats up to the sellers discretion to say whether they think it is acceptable or not unless you can see the lens for yourself before you buy. The only real affect I think the dust has is effectively making the aperature smaller by the tiniest of fractions, but its so smaller difference its barely worth mentioning
 
My 100-400 loves the dust.
 
You'd need a hell of a lot of dust for it to show up. I mean, you can shoot through wire fences and get images that other than a little loss of contrast are fine. My 18-200 has a couple of great chunks of dirt in it, but you'd never guess from looking at the shots it produces - I've tested the life out of it to see if I can spot any throughout the range and there's nothing.

Dust certainly wouldn't stop me buying a 2nd hand lens if the price was right.
 
bit of dust no problems........... here's a link (which was also posted a few weeks back) once yu have seen it you won't be worried about a speck of dust.
 
All lenses have dust. Some require very careful inspection to see the dust against light, the other are more visible. The only problematic cases would be excessive amount of dust, or some big particles (disintegrating lens?!) particularly dead on the centre (can affect AF). Usually there is nothing to worry about.
 
Just to echo all of the above really (I'm not totally sure why I'm posting :D), dust unless at the extreme - like you'd just emptied a hoover bag into it - wont show up. Worry not :)
 
Looks like you should have bought it Blackcloud. Guy that did says it's one of the sharpest he has, and he has several!
 
I saw something on here that someone had posted that showed a lens with cracks in it and it didnt affect the picture at all, couldnt believe it when they showed the picture of what the lens looked like. Im sure someone will be able to give a link to it.
 
I was always wary about this also until the day i was given a D200 with a Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 Push / Pull lens on to try and it was really good.
This lens had a fair bit of dust but more so an almighty deepish scratch on the front Element that the photographer had quite simply went over with a Black Magic Marker.
I took loads of pictures and never noticed any issues with the IQ even with the scratch let alone the dust.
 
Thanks Peter! :) That 35_70 did look good but I suspect that was gunk or fungus inside not dust. It seemed to have a strange pattern. Anyway, i did go away a bit peeved it wasn't as clean inside as we had hoped but glad you got the sale elsewhere.

This thread wasn't really about your lens though. As you know i have an 80-200mm f2.8D that has a few spots of dust inside and also I saw a secondhand lens I saw at a dealer described as visible dust inside. I chose not to buy it, partly because of the dust, partly as I am contemplating a 24-70, but i notice it is still there so probably one or two other people are put off too.

The thread is quite reassuring actually. It seems most people are not put off by a small amount of dust. As Peter (DUNKS) knows, I use an LED torch to shine through the lens. You do see things you don't see otherwise. I'm sure if some of you do that you will feel a bit miffed when you see things you didn't know were there! :)
 
Dust inside a lens is so far out of the focal plane it really won't be an issue. Unless there's loads of it.
 
BlackCloud said:
Thanks Peter! :) That 35_70 did look good but I suspect that was gunk or fungus inside not dust.
Click to expand...

That is one thing well worth avoiding. They spread to other gear, and they visibly reduce the contrast.

It can be avoiding by using all lenses in bright light from time to time...
 
hornetsting - i refer you to to post #12 of this thread
 
If you had a new lens turn up and it had dust in but was other than that optical sharp would you replace it?

I've just had a new 17-55 turn up and it has a couple of specks right in the middle.
 
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